Title | : | Fred Astaire (Icons of America) |
Author | : | |
Rating | : | |
ISBN | : | 0300116950 |
ISBN-10 | : | 9780300116953 |
Language | : | English |
Format Type | : | Hardcover |
Number of Pages | : | 198 |
Publication | : | First published January 1, 2008 |
Joseph Epstein’s Fred Astaire investigates the great dancer’s magical talent, taking up the story of his life, his personality, his work habits, his modest pretensions, and above all his accomplishments. Written with the wit and grace the subject deserves, Fred Astaire provides a remarkable portrait of this extraordinary artist and how he came to embody for Americans a fantasy of easy elegance and, paradoxically, of democratic aristocracy.
Tracing Astaire’s life from his birth in Omaha to his death in his late eighties in Hollywood, the book discusses his early days with his talented and outspoken sister Adele, his gifts as a singer (Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Jerome Kern all delighted in composing for Astaire), and his many movie dance partners, among them Cyd Charisse, Rita Hayworth, Eleanor Powell, and Betty Hutton. A key chapter of the book is devoted to Astaire’s somewhat unwilling partnership with Ginger Rogers, the woman with whom he danced most dazzlingly. What emerges from these pages is a fascinating view of an American era, seen through the accomplishments of Fred Astaire, an unassuming but uncompromising performer who transformed entertainment into art and gave America a new yet enduring standard for style.
Fred Astaire (Icons of America) Reviews
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What a strange book; at times Joseph Epstein's comments on Fred are barbed and sometimes scathing, at others he is eulogistic and praises much of what he does. One can't say that he isn't objective but at the end of the day, one wonders what he really thought of the man. And the way the book is presented, in a series of essays, doesn't help because at times there seems to be no continuous thread.
He begins by telling of Fred and sister Adele's early partnership where Fred spent hours and hours planning moves and perfecting them while Adele simply danced away and took it all light-heartedly. Fred always said, probably tongue in cheek, that she was the better dancer but it was he who took the art to a new level after Adele had retired early.
Fred's partnership with Ginger Rogers is discussed at length and, like the author's view of Fred, his views on it are ambiguous so one is left wondering exactly what the professional relationship was like. There seems to be no doubt that Fred was the prime mover and there also seems to be no doubt that they didn't get on at all well, surprising perhaps after they had dated in their early days.
Ginger also gets a little of the author's vitriol into the bargain as, when she returned to dance with Fred in 'The Barklays of Broadway' when the author deemed the partnership 'to be over', he writes of her, 'She recites the "Marseillaise" in the movie in a rendition so wretched it could have stopped the French Revolution.'
Of course, Fred danced with many partners and these are also discussed at length, with their height and weight seemingly being of great significance. This was because Fred wanted to lift them easily and when dancing with them, did not want to look undersized against them. The age difference of some of his later partners are also seemingly important and the author points out that at times it looked like a grandparent dancing with a granddaughter.
Fred's singing is also discussed and there is no doubt that he could put a song across and the great writers were always delighted to have him sing their songs. And, of course, he was performing in the days of those great writers, Gershwin, Kern, Porter and the others.
The Fred Astaire/Gene Kelly theme is explored at some length with comments from both participants that leave one to wonder if they were simply paying lip service toe ach other, while, naturally, acknowledging each others contribution to the world of dance.
Contradicting some of the early thoughts on Fred the author does towards the end of the book state, 'But the only true aristocrat was, of course, Fred Astaire - an aristocrat of talent.' At least he seems to have got that right there and although the book left me a little confused, it can't take away my tremendous liking for Fred Astaire and his films, dancing and singing.
Indeed, on a personal note I used Fred singing 'The Way You Look Tonight' as the final song at my dear Linda's funeral - needless to say when I hear it, it always brings a tear to my eye and for that reason alone I won't have anything bad said against Fred, which leaves me marking the book down from what I would have originally expected! -
If you're interesting in Mr. Epstein's musings and opinions, the book would get 3 stars. If you're interested in Fred Astaire himself, the book has less to offer.
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What happens when you assign the foremost practitioner of the informal essay in America to write about the greatest male dancer of the 20th century? A disappointing book. Epstein is a master essayist. I have read and loved many of his essay collections. This book might have made a very nice addition to his output of essays, but weighing in at --short -- book-length the strength and charm and appeal is lost, watered down, diluted. This book suffers from the flaws often found in long-form writing of those whose real strength forte writing is the short-form -- repetition of ideas, phrases, references, a sense that certain topics and sections are padded out to meet the demand of filling a while book.
But it DID make me want to see some of the old movies again, so it can't be all bad. -
This is not a biography but a meditation on Astaire and dance and the transcendence of true Style, written in a breezy, urbane voice that you'll either adore or despise. Epstein tries to identify the secret ingredients that made Astaire and his dance partnerships magical on screen. I found the comparison of Astaire and Gene Kelly particularly intelligent and interesting. (I say this as a gal firmly on the Kelly side of that famous professional rivalry.)
The last paragraph is a superb summary of Epstein's insight: "What Fred Astaire did was elevate the entertainment of popular dance into an art; and he did it by dint of superior taste and sublime style, and while at it he also established that it was possible to bring a touch of the aristocrat to a thoroughly democratic society." -
Before the first chapter was over, I knew this was to be hands (and tapping feet) down, a 5-megastar review. Having already read Joseph Epstein sing his praises for the man on Charm: The Elusive Enchantment, I knew this book would be nothing less than a treat of the highest order. And having read almost all of his books with nary an adverb in sight, this one is chock-full of them--all in fitting favor to his subject. I'm almost certain Mr Epstein wrote this chipper sketch of the icon Fred Astaire in a top hat, white tie, and tails to the strains of Astaire jauntily singing of da-ancing cheek to cheek...
But enough about the fanboy/author, and on to the legend. As fans of old Hollywood movies and the requisite trivia of that golden era, Edo and I differed in our impressions of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. For a leading song and dance man, Edo claimed no one could top Astaire, while I gravitated to the beefier, more good-looking Kelly. My choice is supported by the same argument when asked for my favorite Bond: Sean Connery trumps Edo's choice of Roger Moore. Naturally, because Connery looks like the Bond most likely to successfully rescue a damsel in distress over Moore, whose limbs look leaner than mine. But I digress (boy do I digress). Having read this book that's loaded with most everything I expected and more, I now agree with Edo many times over: Mr Astaire wasn't just the better song and dance man, he was the best one there was, and dem tap shoes are hard to fill. In contrast, ballet-trained Gene Kelly looked like a second string piano mover. (Sorry Gene, I still think you were disarmingly charming in Brigadoon and Singin' in the Rain. But I loved you best as the loser, Noel Airman.)
So much information gleaned from this book. A-list fanboy songwriters Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and the brothers Gershwin all wrote songs specifically for Fred Astaire! Cole Porter wrote Night and Day for him. Ditto Jerome Kern with The Way You Look Tonight. And I learned a fancy word, one that should come in handy in a crossword puzzle one day, but for now can serve to impress the impressionable: parlando, the art of speaking a song, or speaking as you segue into song. Think Rex Harrison wondering and muttering "why can't a woman be more like a man" in My Fair Lady, and the occasional warbling of Yves Montand. Meanwhile, Epstein mentions of a Holy Grail recording session by Verve, with Fred Astaire and the equally cool Oscar Petersen covering Mr Astaire's old hits, which I just managed to find on Spotify. (Nice work if you can get it, and you can get it if you try.) Verdict: nice work!
Elegance, charm, decency, style, and originality. I can go on and on with the superlative, exponential adjectives in describing Fred Astaire and his impact on the art of dance, this "hoofer" who "made a good buck." But to elucidate and encapsulate things, let me put it simply, in a way everyone can understand: Astaire was the epitome of Astairish.
A million thanks to Mr Epstein for sharing his admiration for the man with the world. -
Fred Astaire was poetry in motion. No matter how flimsy the plot, Astaire movies, especially those made with Ginger Rogers, leave you feeling happy just to have watched the man dance.
As some one in this book says, he could walk across the room with more grace than most men have when they dance. The book also says that no male dancer could ever show off a woman like Astaire, and I believe that.
I enjoyed every word of this good tempered light-weight book from Yale University's "Icons of America" series. Just as in the Great Depression, Astaire movies cheered people up, so in this fraught times, just reading about him lightened my spirits tremendously.
For one thing, the book dishes no dirt. There doesn't actually seem to be any to dish.
The biggest surprise the book held for me was in what high regard Astaire was held as a singer by the great jazz composers of the 30s: Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, et al. George Gershwin more or less died with Astaire's name on his lips. The thing seems to be that, maybe just because he didn't have a really strong voice to show off, he developed a really great sense for the song itself, without embellishments.
Oh well. I gave the book only three stars because it really is a slight work, an encomium of less than 200 pages. It seems wrong to give it 4 stars in a list that contains so much weightier works. -
Silly me. I picked up this book titled Fred Astaire thinking it would be about, well, Fred Astaire. But you see, it is really more about Joseph Epstein than Fred Astaire. I'll be honest, I'd never heard of Joseph Epstein before I picked up this book but now I know more about him than I could possibly care to know. Even how tall he is and how big his ears are. I don't know about you but when I pick up a biography I expect to learn about the subject of the biography and not so much about the author. In fact, I don't want to know anything about the author.
The tone of this book just made me want to stop reading from almost the first paragraph. Too many of the author's personal opinions and feelings (and too many little aside comments set in brackets that I can only assume were meant to be funny but were just generally annoying.)
The book was set up as a collection of essays about Jos, I mean, Fred Astaire covering such topics as his looks, his clothes, his dancing partners and singing. All of which could have and should have been interesting if only there was less of the author left in the mix. -
I love Fred Astaire, so I did like all the information I got from this book, even if it wasn't all that new to me -- Fred Astaire as an icon is just that fascinating to me.
However, I didn't really enjoy the writing style or tone. The biographer's presence was really there at times, which I find rather annoying as I think a good biographer should focus on the subject more, not inject his view of the subject as much. Unfortunately, the author did this a bit too much for me (even if it wasn't completely pervasive throughout the whole book, it was still enough to make me aware of the biographer more than I care for in biography writing, excluding autobiographies, of course). On top of that, I just wasn't a fan of his writing style, even if it wasn't bad or anything.
Still, I adore Fred Astaire, so it was worth reading in that respect. -
Joseph Epstein has always disapointed me. He tries way too hard to be cute. Here he uses the word 'swell' over and over again in a distracting way. And of course there isn't much to say about Fred Astaire except that he was incomparably great. However, Epstein knows how to appreciate Astaire and gets it across pretty well. The last chapter, a total appreciation. is excellent,leading me to think that this book should have been an article.
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While this was not a bad book, it was definitely not what I thought it was. I thought I was getting a biography of Fred Astaire, instead it was basically synopsis after synopsis of his movies. Ah, well. <><
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Poorly written and not the least bit insightful.
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Not a true bio, more like an analysis of Fred's life and the authors personal feeling.
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Awful.
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Not a clue what led me to read this. I think I had only seen Holiday Inn? Not sure I’ve seen anything else with Astaire since. It was, at any rate, a kind of entertaining read.
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I initially picked up this book thinking I would be picking up a biography on the great Fred Astaire. I was a touch disappointed to see that this was intact not the case. While this book gives interesting insight into Astaire's work and his personal character, it does little in the way of providing any biographical insight into him and his life. While I admit it was an interesting series of essays to read, that's all it was in the end.
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This is not a conventional biography; rather, it is a protracted essay that tries to answer the question: "Why was Fred Astaire so great?" Epstein is the best essayist I know. However, it is too long for what he wanted to accomplish.
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A very quick read. Interesting, but not in depth.
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I skimmed this book -- way too much about the abstract reasons why Fred was popular and way too much detail about his clothing, toupees, etc. About 1/3 of the book was actually about stuff that I was interested in -- his personal life and relationships with his dancing partners. I did go on iTunes and buy some Fred music that I didn't already own after reading about it here, so it wasn't a total loss. These are recordings he made for Verve in the 1950s -- just Fred and a small group of great musicians -- very cool stuff.
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Pretty good book about an intensely private man. He was to be sure, an elegant, precise dancer, but if the reader is looking for more details about his private life, it won't be found here. The author took us down the road of the "rivalry" between Mr. Astaire and Gene Kelly. There are some of us who find ourselves without conflict with regard to the two dancers. I suppose the author felt the need to pick one over the other, but I consider them men of different talents and enjoyed watching them both.
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Slim biography focused not on the boring minutiae of this extraordinary dancer, singer, and actor's life, but on why he appealed so much to us then and why it continues. Always in style, rather than in fashion, Astaire was a brilliant beacon of creative genius on all counts. And a damned well-written book as well, so clever, it takes the reader a while to warm up to what initially comes off as a bit clever-clever (especially in light of the magnificent subject).
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"How could a string bean with an oversize forehead, jug ears, and an obvious toupee be one of the romantic leads of movie history? Epstein meditates on this heavenly hoofer from every angle, and the results will have you jonesing for a TCM movie marathon."--Daniel Goldin, Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, Wis.
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I was disappointed in the author's style of writing more than the material. The book read too much like a thesis paper. This makes the author's interjections even more annoying. Good thing it was a brief book; I didn't expect such a burden from the experince of reading. I'll be adding Astaire's own account to my to-read list.
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The book was ok. But the author used all these bizarre "french" phrases that I just did not get in the reference of Mr. Astaire. The use of these phrases just started to annoy me. But I did get an insight on Fred Astaire. I like old movies, musicals and such. So if you have that sort of interest, skimming the book would do you well.
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More of a book length essay instead of a biography, this short book looks at what makes Fred Astaire Fred Astaire. With discussions of his movies, his singing, his partnership with Ginger, the book's main focus is of course Fred's dancing. Epstein made me look more closely at what it is that I love about Astaire, and why that is. A great short read.
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Recommended. Biography usually bores me, except for the "good parts." That's why I prefer essay-type books that concentrate on a celebrity or author's works, or place them in a certain context. This book gives a capsule of Astaire's life and career, with numerous asides.
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Seriously one of the worse books I have ever read, and I am patient when it comes to my idols and their biographies- no mention of his amazing comediac costars, Ginger comes of as a middle aged hag- how dare he!!! 2 chps dedicated to Fred's wigs. Uncompelling. Sad.